


I.M the victim

by mikaelamargaret



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Blood, Blood and Injury, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Im Changkyun | I.M-centric, No Mercy, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-17
Updated: 2019-09-17
Packaged: 2020-10-20 16:13:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20678225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mikaelamargaret/pseuds/mikaelamargaret
Summary: No Mercy was over and Changkyun was left to figure out how he fit in the group





	I.M the victim

Changkyun was having a rough time. It seemed all he’d been having were rough times since he started training to become an idol. He had loved training at Special K no matter how rough it had been, and he had loved his pre-debut promotions with Nu’Bility. They had been a very close nit family and Changkyun had prayed every day that they would get to debut together, but Special K went bankrupt and on July 1 the group disbanded. 

He had felt so helpless. All of his members had been there for him through everything. Changkyun had been lucky to get drafted by Starship, but the other members hadn’t been as lucky. The five of them had been left grasping at straws to get a chance at their dreams, and despite getting a grip on that chance it was turning from a dream into a nightmare.

Changkyun and all the producers had known he would be a contestant in No Mercy from the beginning, what they had failed to tell him was that they were putting him in halfway through. The writers wanted drama they didn’t care that they were throwing Changkyun to the wolves to get it. 

To all the other trainees it looked like he was free riding into the final half of the competition, but being thrown in halfway only meant he had to work harder to show he was capable of standing on that stage. He received no support. Not from the other trainees. Not from fans. They didn’t care about his situation they had been looking for someone to blame the entire show. They wanted a bad guy, wanted someone to be at fault for the survival show and Changkyun was a perfect target. 

It was a simple fact that the only people who liked Changkyun were the judges, and that only made the other contestants hate him more. What could he do? In their eyes he had only been training at starship for 3 months and had gotten to join after half of the challenges had already been done. They didn’t know he had trained before that, they didn’t know he had almost debuted before any of them could even think about it. They didn’t know and they didn’t care.

When Changkyun’s name got called on that final episode it only made things worse. Nobody talked to him after shooting ended. The only person who even dared to look at him had been Gunhee, and to his surprise the rapper only regarded him with a sad almost pitying look. It made bile rise in Changkyun’s throat. 

Once they got back to the dorms and Gunhee and Seokwon started packing up Changkyun made himself as small as possible. He couldn’t even go in the dorm instead curling himself up in the stairwell outside the door. He fully expected to be left alone, he was an afterthought to them on a regular day at this time they probably forgot he existed completely. That’s why he was shocked when someone sat next to him. He was even more shocked to see Gunhee was that person.

“H-hyung what are you doing here,” Changkyun wanted to make himself even smaller. He couldn’t bring himself to look at the older rapper.

“I’m so sorry Changkyun-ah,” That made Changkyun snap his head up and when he looked at Gunhee with wide teary eyes he saw concern and worry reflecting back from the other rapper’s own eyes, “I’m so sorry for how to show went. I’m sorry that I ostracized you. I will never be able to explain how sorry I am that it happened the way it did,” 

Changkyun was beyond surprised at his words and seeing the confusion in his face Gunhee explained himself.

“I found out that you were a contestant from the very beginning. I had been talking with on of the PDs when she mentioned it off hand. I had no idea you had been doing the same challenges as us, being judged just the same. When I found out that you were revealed late for the drama I couldn’t help but feel incredibly guilty. You weren’t the villain like I thought, you were the victim like the rest of us,” Gunhee couldn’t seem to look up from his hands as he explained, but when he finally did he was met with changkyun’s tears.

“Thank you hyung. Thank you for not hating me. Thank you for understanding,” Changkyun at this point couldn’t stop crying.

“I don’t know what’s gonna happen kid, but you’re an amazing rapper and I know you’ll do just fine, and you have me now for anything you need,” Gunhee pulled Changkyun into a hug as the younger rapper cried. 

“I’m so scared hyung. This is my second chance, most likely my last chance to debut, and I don’t think the other members like me very much,” Gunhee’s heart broke. Changkyun was still young. He had only just turned 20, he had only been an adult for a few weeks. This was the last thing the kid deserved. 

“Like I said Changkyun you have me. I mean it, I’m gonna make up for what I did. All you have to do is call and I’ll be by your side,” Just like that Changkyun wasn’t completely alone. 

He had Gunhee in his corner by some twisted chance of fate. He had a supporter. 

They sat together for a little longer before Gunhee went back in to finish his goodbye’s. As he and Seokwon left he gave Changkyun one last hug. The maknae stayed in the hallway for hours only going back in when he thought the other members were asleep.

He had timed it perfectly. Quickly and quietly he did his nightly routine foregoing diner because of his anxiety induced nausea and tucking himself into his bunk to sleep. 

-

He was woken suddenly the next morning breathing heavily and staring at the ceiling. It wasn’t uncommon for him to have problems sleeping. Nonsense nightmares had plagued him since he was a kid usually he had sleeping pills to help, but he must have forgotten to take them. 

The nightmares often affected him physically, causing him to stop breathing, to talk, or in extreme cases thrash. The most serious one was the one that happened the most often. When he had nightmares he stopped breathing in his sleep. Usually it resulted in the situation he was in now, breathing heavily and awake before he needed to be, but on very rare occasions his body didn’t kick in and wake him up and he just wouldn’t keep breathing. They only time it had ever happened before his parents hadn’t been able to wake him up, and he had to be rushed to the hospital. 

Legally he had been dead for only a minuet, but the doctors had saved his life and prescribed him sleeping pills. He didn’t even remember anything about the event having only heard about it from his mother. 

He leaned over to check the clock. It was 5 am. Kihyun didn’t wake up till 6:30, and the other members didn't wake up until a little after that. Taking some initiative had crawled out of bed starting his morning routine before cleaning up the dorm from the night before. He wandered into the kitchen and started fiddling around in the fridge. 

He wasn’t a perfect cook, but his mother had taught him a thing or two and he was more than willing to put that to work making breakfast. He worked quickly cooking the meal for his hyungs and setting the table. He made sure everything was okay before taking a small portion for himself. After not eating the night before no matter how hungry he was he wouldn’t be able to handle too much food. 

When he finally sat down in the living room to enjoy the peace of the empty living room he rarely got to see Kihyun was walking out of their room. He stopped upon seeing Changkyun and gave the maknae a confused look.

“Why are you up?”

Changkyun liked to think he didn’t mean to sound harsh but he found himself flinching at the tone anyways.

“I woke up early this morning, so I figured instead of going back to sleep I’d get up and make breakfast. I know you usually do it, but I figured it would be nice if you got to rest for a bit in the morning,” Changkyun kept his eyes trained on his hands not raising his head to the older man. 

Kihyun let out a small oh, but otherwise walked away and left Changkyun to himself.

A few minutes later Kihyun was back in the living room completely dressed for the day.

He stared at Changkyun for a moment before he decided to talk to the maknae.

“Thank you Changkyun,” It was simple enough but it had Changkyun’s heart fluttering.

“It’s no problem Kihyun Hyung. I was up and you do a lot for me so I figured the least I could do to say thank you made breakfast so you wouldn’t have to,” Kihyun couldn’t help but stare at the maknae. Changkyun, as he was coming to realise, was a very genuine person. He was quiet and reserved only speaking when spoken too and going out of his way to make things easier for them, even if they treated him with disdain. 

Kihyun was starting to feel a little guilty about his attitude. If Changkyun was the villain then why was he always the one acting scared? Why was he the one walking on eggshells?

Kihyun put those thoughts to the side for the moment. 

“I’ll wake the other up and then we’ll eat breakfast,” 

“Okay hyung, I’ll finish up some chores while you eat. If you let me know when you’re done I’ll wash the dishes since I cooked,” This had Kihyun reeling a little because he was pretty sure that all of Changkyun’s chores were done and the Maknae usually did dishes anyways since he was the last to eat.

“Aren’t you going to eat with us? You made the food,” Kihyun saw the way the maknae avoided his eye making himself smaller than he already was and hiding away from him. 

“I already ate hyung. I figured you would all enjoy your morning better if I didn’t intrude,” Kihyun didn’t know what to say so he instead went to wake the rest up. One by one he got the members up and as they all came out of the rooms Kihyun couldn’t find Changkyun anywhere. 

While everyone got ready, he began to think about what Changkyun usually did in the morning only to realize that after he woke the maknae up he never saw him again until changkyun washed the dishes and they left. 

Kihyun’s second realization had been that Changkyun was purposefully hiding himself in the morning so he wouldn’t upset the others, as if simply seeing him would make them angry. It did, was Kihyun’s next thought. He himself was guilty of becoming annoyed with seeing the maknae even if he had simply done nothing but breathe. Kihyun couldn’t even remember seeing Changkyun when he didn’t absolutely have to do something with them. They really had pushed him out of the group even if he hadn’t technically left.

Kihyun ground his palms into his eyes, it was too early to be completely reevaluating his actions towards their youngest member. Nevertheless he promised himself to watch Changkyun closer. He wanted to see what else they caused the kid to do.

Soon everyone was finished and like magic Changkyun was back to wash the dishes. It was shortly after that they all left.

Once they reached the company the group split in two. Kihyun, Hyunwoo, Wonho, Minhyuk, and Hyungwon had to go to vocal practices, so Jooheon and Changkyun went to the studio to add the final touches to their debut side tracks. 

Changkyun was on rocky ground with Jooheon. In Changkyun’s own mind he had ripped Jooheon from his best friend. Changkyun had separated the inseparable, so he kept his distance from the second youngest not wanting to make him angry. 

Jooheon himself showed no genuine hatred towards the younger. Unlike the more emotionally driven members of their group he was aware that none of them, not even Changkyun, were free from the grip of producers and writers. Still he wasn’t comfortable with Changkyun. It was still the truth that Changkyun was the reason he hadn’t debuted with Gunhee and the thought made his stomach turn.

The two of them walked to their studio in silence. Over the months he had been on the show Changkyun had learned not to speak unless spoken to, and Jooheon didn’t seem to be in the talking mood.

Once they were at the studio they got to work. The wrote for hours pouring over their music and fixing tracks as they saw fit. Changkyun followed Jooheon’s lead on everything. He never argued with the older never put in his own musical opinions, he only listened, doing what he was told to do. 

After a long period of time hunched uncomfortably over his work Changkyun stretched back hearing and feeling a series of satisfying pops run along his spine. He stood up quickly, excused himself to the bathroom, and slipped out of the room.

When he was alone and away from the oppressing atmosphere that came with being with his hyungs, Changkyun became something akin to a walking ragdoll. His hands were tucked into his sweatshirt pocket and he had a bad habit of slouching in an effort to make himself invisible. The staff members that passed him sometimes gave him worried glances but no one stopped him and no one asked him if he was okay.

After what felt like miles of walking Changkyun made it to the bathroom. He walked in expecting it to be empty, what he did not expect was a group of trainees, all older than him, standing around smoking into the air vent. 

They seemed as equally shocked to see him as he was to see them. Some of them quickly put out their cigarettes while others stood in shock. It wasn’t long before they were all staring at him, and Changkyun desperately wanted to run. Their piercing gazes kept him pinned where he stood. He was unable to move instead standing nervously while one of them approached him. 

“You’re Im Changkyun right?” His voice was smooth and deep something of a vocalist, but still it was too rough to be considered a desirable voice of an idol. 

Changkyun couldn’t find his voice still too scared to do anything but stare wide eyed at the group of guys. 

The trainee didn’t take kindly to being ignored and with a final step towards Changkyun he grabbed the younger by the sweatshirt collar and shoved him back into the door. 

“I asked you a question. That means you answer me,” The man practically growled the words. 

Changkyun screwed his eyes shut, head pounding from hitting the door. He only barely managed to get out a small yes before he was being tossed to the ground. 

“You know you have a lot of nerve taking a space on that show that should have gone to one of us older trainees. Its brats like you that make me sick,” The guy was walking circles around changkyun while the others stared, “What do you have to say. Do you think you’re better than us?” 

Changkyun knew he was gonna get his ass kicked, he had been in positions like this before. He was more than aware that it didn’t matter if he answered them nicely. If they wanted to beat him up they were going to do just that. So, there was no reason for him to not get at least a few hits in.

“I don’t think I’m better than you, but the producers and staff obviously did if I made it in over you,” He got the reaction he knew he was going to hit, but he had not been able to prepare himself for the harsh kick that came to his chest. 

In seconds the breath was knocked out of him, and Changkyun began to panic unable to breath. 

The man didn’t let up. He kicked changkyun over and over in the chest and stomach before he bent down and punch changkyun straight across temple, hitting him in the eye and sending his head smashing into the floor. 

Changkyun begame very lightheaded very quickly. He heard almost nothing as the trainees scrambled out of the bathroom leaving him behind to drift into darkness.

-

Jooheon sat in their studio working diligently on his own work, while Changkyun remained untouched and scattered open on the table. The older rapper hadn’t paid the maknae much mind when he left, but it had been 20 minutes since the other left and Jooheon was curious as to why he had not yet returned. 

He stood, stretching his limbs, and made his way to the door. He took the long trek down to the bathroom humming quietly as he did so.

He had not been prepared for what he would see when he walked in. Changkyun was lying on the floor curled into himself. There was a giant red mark over the side of his face, and a small unsettling pool of blood leaked from his head. 

Jooheon was completely still unable to move. When he came to his senses he cautiously moved towards the youngest member. He could hear ragged puffy breaths coming from him and was relieved that he was alive. Without thinking Jooheon called their manager, as always he picked up on the first ring,

“Jooheon? What do you need?” His manager was understandably confused as it was usually Hyunwoo who called to talk to him

“Hyung. I-I… Changkyun and I were in our studio and and then he left to go to the bathroom, but he was gone for a long time so I went to look for him and I-I found him He’s He was on the bathroom floor he’s bleeding and unconscious. Hyung what do I do?” Jooheon was growing more panicked by the second. He wasn’t the maknae’s biggest fan but he didn’t want Changkyun hurt and certainly didn’t want him to die bleeding out on the bathroom floor in starship entertainment.

The line was silent before the manager spoke again. 

“Ok don’t move stay right where you are and I’ll come up. Don’t move Changkyun he could have a very bad head injury. Try to wake him, Very Gently, if you can. Please stay calm if you panic it will make matters worse. 

The manager hung up leaving Jooheon alone with a very injured and still bleeding Changkyun. 

Looking at the younger, jooheon was appalled to realise that lying there on that dirty bathroom floor was the most relaxed he had ever seen the maknae. 

Changkyun was always on edge when he was with the members. He was always ready to be yelled at. He stood tensely like at any moment he would be hauled away and asked to leave, but there in that dingy bathroom surrounded by his own blood and breathing haggardly the maknae looked the most peaceful Jooheon had ever seen him.

Carefully jooheon stopped down to gently rub his thumb against the maknae‘s cheek. He called out asking Changkyun to wake up and for a moment the maknae seemed to stir but he didn’t wake up and Jooheon was scared.

Within the next 20 minutes an ambulance made its way to Starship and Changkyun was taken to the hospital to be taken care of. Their manager had left in the ambulance with the maknae leaving Jooheon to tell the rest of the members what happened.

Jooheon returned to the studio under the orders to not disturb the members until they were done with their practices. So there he sat alone in his studio with changkyun’s notebooks still open on the table.

Unable to resist the temptation Jooheon looked into the notebooks where Changkyun wrote every musical thought he had. The older rapper was shocked to see them filled to the brim with countless lyrics, song titles, musical chords, and song ideas. The notebooks were overflowing with artistic potential and yet the maknae never shared it. He always let Jooheon do what he wanted. It was only then that Jooheon realized that the maknae kept quiet about his own musical tastes to please him.

For a few more hours jooheon pouted over the notebooks taking in every detail and making notes in his own books about the things he liked and the things he loved. It was agonizing to wait for the time when the members would gather for dance practice. 

Their manager had informed him that the rest of them would be required to stay and finish their usual practices while the Maknae was looked after.

With heavy feet Jooheon dragged himself down the the practice room when he opened the door the others didn’t notice anything at first but when the Maknae didn’t skirt out from behind his youngest hyung a few of them raised an eyebrow. Kihyun seemed more worried than anyone else.

“Why isn’t Changkyun with you?” Jooheon found it a little odd that Kihyun sounded so concerned for their Maknae. While the vocalist wasn’t outright mean to Changkyun the two of them weren’t close.

Before Jooheon could answer Minhyuk scoffed. The blonde was sensitive and emotional and without a doubt he was the most open about his hatred towards the youngest.

“He probably found a way to skip out on practice,”

For whatever reason the statement made Jooheon angry. Minhyuk hadn’t seen what he had seen, and despite what Changkyun might lack he was a hard worker and never skipped practice even when it was obvious they didn’t want him there.

“Oh yeah he totally found a way to skip out. I’m sure he had someone beat the shit out of him just get out of one dance practice,” Jooheon could help the venom in his words.

Suddenly the room was in semi chaos. Minhyuk has gone completely still moth open as if he was going to speak but no words came out. Kihyun was nothing but words and questions demanding to know what jooheon meant. Hoseok was just as confused though he definitely didn’t seem as worried about the Maknae as Kihyun.

With a swift and loud clap of his hands Hyunwoo had everyone’s attention. No words were said instead their leader simply gestured to jooheon to explain himself.

With a sigh, the young rapper sat himself down on the floor.

“We were working together when he excused himself to the bathroom. At first I didn’t think anything of it when he took a little longer but then close to twenty minutes had passed so I went to look for him. When I got into the bathroom he was laying there on the ground. There was a red mark across his face and blood was pooling around his head. Luckily he was breathing but he wouldn’t wake up. I called manager and he was taken to the hospital hours ago. There haven’t been any updates,”

Everyone was completely silent, but that’s what Jooheon had expected. It was a sad realization to come to, but Joooheon was aware that none of the members really cared about Changkyun, not like they did each other. If it had been another one of them they would have already barged out of the room demanding to know what was going on, but it was their maknae that was hurt and even if he was the one they were supposed to care for the most they just didn’t.

The silence didn’t last long because much to Jooheon’s surprise Kihyun was loudly making his way around the room.

“Hyung manager said we have to finish our dance practice before we can go home,” Jooheon called out as the vocalist packed his things.

Kihyun didn’t stop to give him a glance just kept picking up. 

“I’m no going home I’m going to the hospital,”

It seemed Jooheon wasn’t the only one who was shocked by Kihyun’s words because Minhyuk was practically sputtering. 

“Why would you go to the hospital now?!” Minhyuk was on his feet too.

That got Kihyun to stop. The vocalist whipped his head around to give Minhyuk the nastiest glare Jooheon had ever seen. Minhyuk recoiled.

“I’m going to the hospital because our youngest member was knocked unconscious and we have no idea how he’s doing or if he’s even still alive,” Kihyun heaved a large breath deflating slightly, “He’s so polite. He woke up early in the morning and made breakfast so I wouldn’t have to. He finished all his chores but still did extra, and he didn’t even eat breakfast he cooked with us but he still washed the dishes. He goes out of his way to be respectful and kind. He’s never once been rude and he always listens, and yet we all berate him as if he wasn’t going above and beyond to make us like him. I- I have to know if he’s okay because I couldn’t stand it if something happened to him before I got to apologize for being an ass,” With that last declaration Kihyun was out of the door before any of them could stop him leaving the rest of them to stare at the floor.

Jooheon was the next one to speak up.

“You guys didn’t see him. He was so small when I found him. He was curled into himself like he was trying to keep someone from kicking him, and his hair was matted to the side of his face with blood. It was horrifying and yet the worst part was that he looked so calm. I had never seen him look so at peace,” Jooheon wasn’t sure when he started crying, but the tears had come and they wouldn’t stop. 

Hyungwon was the next person up and out of the door. 

-

Changkyun felt floaty, like he wasn’t attached to anything at all. Nothing hurt anymore and for a brief moment he wondered if he was dead, but a consistent beeping pulled him out of his little floaty world. When his eyes opened he took in everything around him. The walls were white and the entire room smelled unnaturally clean. He tried to sit up but the subtle movement had his abdomen flaring with pain.

A hand rested against his chest.

“Its okay Changkyun-ssi you’re in the hospital,” Looking over he saw his manager sitting in the chair next to the bed. 

All at once everything came back to him and he rested against his pillows wondering how he had gotten to the hospital. The last thing he remembered was the boys rushing out of the bathroom.

“Changkyun I have some questions I need to ask you if you feel up to it,” His managers voice snapped him out of his thoughts. He nodded and the man started talking again. “Fist of all I need to know what exactly happened as best as you can remember it, and remember Changkyun you don’t have to lie it's safe to tell me what happened,”

With a deep breath he chanced using his voice.

“I had to use the restroom so I excused myself from the recording studio. When I got to the bathroom there were some trainees in there smoking into the vent, I’m not sure who they were except that they had also auditioned for No Mercy when I had. One of them asked me a question and when I didn’t answer right away he slammed me back into the door. After I answered him he threw me to the ground and then he started kicking me. He did that for a while before he punched me in the face, I guess when he did it it sent my head cracking onto the floor. I can sorta remember hearing them leave but nothing after that,” The manager wrote every single word down making sure not to miss a thing the maknae said. 

After he seemed to be done Changkyun spoke up again.

“Hyung how did I get here? Did someone find me? And how long have I been out?”

“Well you’ve been out for several hours. Jooheon was the one who found you he called me right away,”

Changkyun’s chest squeezed at the thought of his youngest hyung finding him in that bathroom, but before anything else could be said his hospital door was opened to reveal a very worried Kihyun. 

“I told Jooheon you were all supposed to finish practice wha- “

Kihyun cut the manager off

“Are you okay? What happened? How bad are your injuries?”

Changkyun just stared at his older member unable to process why Kihyun seemed so concerned for his well being. 

“I-I’m okay hyung just a little sore. I can tell you all what happened when I get released to go back to the dorms. As for my injuries I don’t know how bad they are, I just woke up,”

Their manager stepped back in again

“I can answer that. The doctors said you have severe bruising across your torso as well as a fractured rib. You also have a concussion and you had to have stitches where you’re head was split open,”

Kihyun’s hands covered his mouth and tears trailed down his cheeks. Carefully, he sat down on the bed next to Changkyun and took one of his hands.

“Hyung can we have a minute alone,” Their manager nodded his head and quietly left the room. That’s when Kihyun really started crying.

“I’m sorry,” Changkyun was not prepared for an apology “I’m so sorry Changkyun. I haven’t been kind to you at all and yet you went out of your way to do nice things for me, and now you’ve been hurt and you don’t deserve to suffer. Nobody should be allowed to make you hurt or upset not me not the members and certainly not anyone else. You’re so outstandingly kind to everyone, but you never expect anything in return and you never get anything in return. I promise I’ll take better care of you from now on” The vocalist was a sobbing mess.

Changkyun hesitantly reached a hand out to wipe some of the tears from Kihyun’s face.

“You don’t have to apologize Hyung. I know why all of you are uncomfortable around me I could never blame you for your feelings. I’m just happy that you don’t hate me,” The statement didn’t seem to do much to make Kihyun feel better because he only started crying harder.

His hospital door opened once again and oddly instead of the manager like he had expected it was Gunhee and Hyungwon who walked inside. 

“Hyungs? What are you doing here?” Changkyun was very very confused

“When I heard what happened to you, I thought I should tell Gunhee, I’m sorry for listening in but I heard the conversation the two of you had after the last episode was filmed. I figured you would want a friend to be with you,” Hyungwon couldn’t look Changkyun in the eyes.

“I don’t mind that you heard Hyung. Thank you for telling Gunhee-hyung and I’m glad you came too. I know you don’t like me very much Hyung, but it means a lot that you would go out of your way to come here when you could have let Gunhee come by himself,” Changkyun smiled and Kihyun was sad that the first time he had ever seen the maknae smile was when he was lying bruised in a hospital bed.

They were all interrupted when the manager came back into the room this time with a doctor.

“Hello Changkyun It’s nice to see you’re awake. I’m going to do a quick check up and then you will be released to go home. I have left all the instructions for your recovery with your manager,” The doctor got to work checking him over while his three hyungs waited outside. 30 long minutes later he was walking out of the hospital in a fresh pair of clothes. The manager left his instructions with Kihyun and Changkyun and his three Hyungs headed back to the dorms, while their manager left to get the other 4 members.

They talked a lot on the way back to the dorms and They even managed to get Changkyun to laugh a few times. Even if it hurt his chest he was happy to be included. 

When the arrived at the dorms Gunhee helped Changkyun up the stairs. Once inside Kihyun sat him on the couch demanding he rest while the older made him food. Hyungwon got him a blanket and he and Gunhee sat with him on the couch. 

It was cozy and warm and Changkyun found himself drifting into a soft sleep. 

He was gently shaken awake a few minutes later when Kihyun brought out his food. He gave his hyung a warm smile and accepted the delicious meal. After a short hour the other four members walked into the house shocked, not only to see Gunhee in their dorm, but also to see Gunhee Hyungwon and Changkyun curled up on the couch. 

Changkyun began to feel uncomfortable under their stares and made a weak move to dislodge himself from his space between Hyungwon and Gunhee. He was met with resistance when Hyungwon kept him securely tucked into his side. He sent changkyun a warm smile and turned to his other members switching to a venomous look daring them to make the maknae move from his arms.

Changkyun locked eyes with Jooheon and the older looked like was was going to be sick. 

“Are you okay?” he spoke softly not quite looking at the younger while the other three members went to put their things in their rooms.

“Yeah I’m gonna be fine,” Changkyun did his best to send his Hyung a big smile to reassure him that he would be okay.

Hyunwoo was the only one to come back out into the living room and he sat on the coffee table facing Changkyun. 

“Can you tell us what happened?’ His leader’s eyes were soft and despite the fact that they were not close Changkyun felt that he could trust him. 

“Jooheon-hyung and I went to the studio and we were working for a while, but then I had to use the restroom. When I got to the bathroom there was a group of trainees smoking into the vent. I don’t know their names all I know is that they Auditioned for no mercy at the same time as me. One of them had asked me a question, and apparently I didn’t answer fast enough because he slammed me into the door. Once I answered him he threw me to the ground and then he started kicking me. It felt like he would never stop kicking me, but then he stopped and he punched me in the face. It sent my head into the floor and that’s how I got the gash on my head. I don’t remember anything after hearing them leave. Manager-nim told me that Jooheon Hyung was the one who found me. The doctor says I have severe bruising on my torso and a cracked rib. I also have a concussion and the cut on my head needed stitches,” The room was sat in silence before Hyunwoo stood up. 

“I’m very sorry Changkyu-ah. You shouldn't have had to go through that. I want you to know that I’ll talk with Manager-nim and our CEO and make sure that those trainees get reprimanded and the one who hurt you will get fired I promise,” Hyunwoo sounded so serious it sent shivers down Changkyun’s spine

Kihyun was the next person to stand up. He walked over to Changkyun and kneeled in front of the maknae.

“Changkyun is it okay if we see the bruises? You don’t have to show us if you don’t want to,” 

The maknae contemplated it for a short while before carefully untangling himself from his cuddle pile. 

“Someone else has to lift my shirt. I can’t with my ribs,” 

Kihyun gently reached out and pulled changkyun shirt up. His torso was covered in pastel purple blotches that would no doubt get worse as time went on. Some of them wanted to cry and that's exactly what Jooheon did. Looking around the room at the members who seemed to care about him if only a little, and then looking at Gunhee who had promised to be his friend gave Changkyun a surge of courage that he wasn’t aware he needed.

“Hyungs? If it’s okay I have something I want to talk about with you guys. Its something Gunhee-Hyung and Hyungwon-Hyung already know about but I think the rest of you should know too,” Kihyun nodded his head and Hyunwoo walked off to get Hoseok and Minhyuk.

When they were all situated in the living room Changkyun began.

“So, some of you don’t know this but I was a trainee at another company before I came to Starship. The company was called Special K and I was set to debut with a group called Nu’bility. We did a tone of predebut stuff and It was a lot of fun, but then Special K went bankrupt and the five of us were left stranded with nowhere to go. Starship had apparently been in contact with Special K and they had seen some of our performances. The company had me audition and when I was accepted they had me audition again for No Mercy. My auditions happened only a few days after the main auditions for the show. The reason was because whoever passed the second auditions wouldn’t be revealed until the middle of the show. They had me participate secretly in every challenge and I was given grades that would determine whether or not I could be revealed. If I had failed then I wouldn’t be here right now. The producers and writers wanted drama and they got it at my expense. Of course I know there was no way you could have known this so I don’t blame you for disliking me, but I guess I just wanted to get it off my chest. I wanted you to know that I didn't mean to hurt you,” After Changkyun explained everything there was an unexpected burst of sobs and Minhyuk who had been sitting in the armchair buried his face in his hands.

The group lavished apologies on the maknae, and although things weren’t perfect and probably wouldn’t be for a long time Changkyun was happy that they didn’t hate him.


End file.
